Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!
by nonethelessclaudia
Summary: What happens when Karen and her best friend Brandon Flowers finally reunite? Mad fun, adventure, and the introduction of a new friend. After being apart for a while, Karen goes to Brandon's hometown to celebrate her cousin's 21st birthday, and Brandon just happens to introduce her to Matthew Gray Gubler. What happens in this party? Whatever does, it stays...or does it?
1. Chapter 1

"Brandon hurry up!" I said as I paced back and forth in my best black pumps through the outrageously luxurious hotel room that only a rock star, or the president could afford, nonetheless book for a week.  
Brandon walked out of the bathroom saying, "What's the rush Kaz?"  
"What's the rush?" I said dignified  
"Yeah" Brandon smiled, knowing he was being a dick.  
"The rush is that if we don't leave soon, the paparazzi is never going to let us get to the party on time!" I shouted.  
"Also, don't call me Kaz, it's not cute anymore." I said  
"What?" Brandon said incredulous.  
"Since when is it not cute?" "I've always called you Kaz or Kaza since we were in diapers." Said Brandon  
"Are you going through an identity crisis?" he joked  
"No you goofball, I just don't want to be Kaza or Kaz tonight."  
Brandon arched an eyebrow, "Care to elaborate?  
"Brandon, we're in Las Vegas, home! I haven't been here for 6 years, and I'd like to be seen as someone different other than the lanky geeky girl I was when I left to my motherland of Scotland to study."  
Brandon relaxed his posture and walked to me.  
"Karen" he said.  
"Oh don't Karen me!" I said

Brandon grinned and placed his hands on my shoulders and said, "Ok, Miss Whatshername, what's wrong with being just you?" "I'll happen to let you know that I love geeky freakishly tall Karen."  
"Before Brandon could continue I interrupted and said, "Brandon I want to look hot-  
You already do! He said  
there was not much shyness around Brandon and I. Knowing each other since we were literally in the womb, these things were just natural for us. He evidently found me attractive, and I did too, and we had said it to one another before, and we each took it as a compliment, and never as an, "OMG WE ARE SOUL MATES" kind of a thing.  
"Ok I said." "I also want to feel hot, like freaking Jennifer Lawrence red Golden Globe dress hot, and you calling me Kaz or Kaza only makes me feel like a twiggy 5 year old."  
"But you are hot my ginger!" He shouted a bit too eagerly  
I bit my lips down to avoid smiling while Brandon continued, "You are my stunning nerd, my gem, my best friend, my companion, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray-  
"Oh stop it!" I said finally giving in and smiling.  
"What I'm trying to say" said Brandon  
"Is that I call you Kaz or Kaza from endearment, besides it adds mystery to you."  
Mystery? I said  
"Yes!" he piped  
"Say you're in the bar looking mighty fine as you are looking this evening, and you introduce yourself to a boy. I come over and say, "Hey Kaza!" And he'll be confused as to why I called you Kaza, that's where I'll walk away and let you two talk about it!"  
"Aren't you considerate?" I mumbled  
"I am very sweet." Said Brandon while breaking into a devilish grin.  
"You know, he could just figure it out." I said  
"Figure what you?" said Brandon  
"That Kaza or Kaz is my nickname silly."  
"I doubt it" said Brandon confidently.  
"It's not common" he ended before walking back into the bathroom.  
I dropped the argument knowing he was right.  
I was going to plop myself down on the super duper king sized bed, when I saw the fancy digital clock display 7:10.  
"BRANDON!" I shouted as I stormed into the bathroom not caring to knock.  
Thankfully Brandon wasn't naked or anything, but I did catch him off guard. He was leaning against the sink dresser when I barged into the room and caused him to send his phone flying. While Brandon stared in both horror and amazement, I caught the phone inches from hitting the ground, and breaking into a million little pieces. Normally, Brandon would have thanked me, even kissed my forehead. However, today, he just snatched it out of my hands and said, "Go away!"  
I took a few steps back to find the doorway and balance myself on it.  
"Brandon, who are you texting? I asked  
"No one." He replied as he tried to slip his iPhone back into his neat blazer's pocket.  
Luckily for me, Brandon was slow enough that I was able to snatch it back. As soon as the phone was in my hands I bolted like hell was on fire, and it was catching up to me. Just when I was about to make it to the door that led to the hallway, Brandon surprisingly catches up to me and tackles me to the ground. Having no siblings who could have given my fighting experience, I just lay there shocked that A) Brandon, my lazy Brandon had even attempted to run, and B) that he tackled me. Sure Brandon and I got along like brother and sister (except siblings don't kiss) but he had never injured me this bad…except for the time he pushed me out of a tree house because I had read _Where the Wild Things_ are faster than he did, and the time we had our first kiss (out of curiosity) and he somehow defied the laws of gravity when he leaned in to kiss me by the stairs and stumbled, pulling me down 5 flights of stairs…then again, this is Brandon we're talking about, the clumsiest person (asides from me) that I know.  
I lay plastered to the ground so still, that Brandon must have thought he killed me because all I hear is Brandon sniffling saying, "Oh no, Kaza, Kaza!" I take advantage of his vulnerability and slip the phone underneath the bed and slowly try to turn around. As soon as I make a move, Brandon sweeps me up into a bear hug.  
"Oh Kaza, I'm so sorry!" he mumbles to my ear  
"Brandon" I cough  
"You're…need…air…you're…crushing me…again" I croak before he releases me.  
As I breathe in all the air I can, Brandon bits his lower lip and says," I'm-  
"Brandon, I know you're sorry." I say  
"I didn't mean to, this was supposed to be a playful thing and-  
"Shh" I say as I put my finger across his lips to signal him to drop it  
"I'll forgive you if you tell me who you were texting."I say  
"That's not fair!" he whines  
"Life's not fair!" I shout  
Brandon crosses his arms and I know he's about to cave into his stubbornness when I say,  
"Brandon, you almost made me fairy dust- the LEAST you can do is tell your BEST FRIEND who the FUCK YOU WERE TEXTING!"  
"It's nothing." He said  
we glared at each other for a few seconds before I said,  
"Brandon, if this is a girl you're texting, I'm ok with it." I said  
He didn't budge, so I continued, "I've told you that I don't like you to randomly hook up with girls because you should respect them but, hey we're in Las Vegas…I've been gone for 6 years and you have been gone for a whole year, I think we can bend the rules for once.  
Brandon not looking convinced I sighed and said, "This is Sin City after all, why not break the rules for fabulous Las Vegas?"  
Brandon's eyes lit up at that and said, "You?"  
"My genius friend who spent 6 years studying abroad studying medicine and psychology knows how to have fun?" "What is this?" He said laughing  
"Oh please" I said rolling me eyes.  
"They don't call me Karen Wild child for no reason." I said  
"You remember that?" He said  
"Of course, I remember jumping off the 5th hotel floor into the pool, and all your guests chanting, "Wild child, wild child!" I said  
"Or that time we were in Glasgow and you we're chugging down your 12th Guinness and everyone was chanting wild child over and over again?" Said Brandon  
"Yeah" I laughed  
Brandon shook his head and said, "It's not a girl"  
"Oh?" I said  
"So it's a boy?" I said  
"No!" He shouted  
I raised my eyebrows and he said, "Not that there's anything wrong with it, but no, I like women thank you very much."  
"Then?" I insisted?  
"I was talking to a friend." Said Brandon  
"A friend? What friend, I know all your friends."  
"Not this one." Said Brandon  
"Ok" I said sitting up to my knees, "Who is this friend and why don't I know about him?" I said  
"This friend's name is Matthew and you don't know him because I met him recently." Said Brandon  
"So you barely met and you're already bff's?" I said  
"Are you jealous?" Brandon asked  
"No!" I said crossing my arms  
Brandon chuckled and said, "I met him 6 months ago at one of my concerts, and we hit it off really well, he's a really cool dude AND he respects women, and we have a lot in common, and I just would like to keep him in my life … as a friend." Brandon finished  
"I would have introduced you two earlier, but you were always busy in school, and he was always busy learning lines and doing actor stuff." Said Brandon  
"Well, you speak very highly of him." I said  
Brandon stood up, offered me his hand to get up and dramatically said, "DAHLING, you'll always be my best friend."  
I smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad you have a nice new friend."  
I smiled again and found myself glad that it came out sincere, because that's how I meant it.  
"Well, you won't be curious for long." Said Brandon  
"What does that mean?" I said  
Taking in a deep breath, Brandon said, "I was texting Matthew because he's here in Las Vegas and is coincidentally going to be partying at the same hotel we are." Said Brandon  
being used to analyzing people, I noticed that Brandon told me all this while fidgeting with his hands and looking at the ground. I knew exactly where this was going.  
"Brandon, did you talk to him about me?" I said as innocently as I could  
"Yes, why?" said Brandon skeptically  
I gave him a death glare and said, "Are you trying to hook me up?"  
"Brandon looked like a deer in the headlights and said, "I uhm...I…"  
I sighed and crouched down to get the phone from underneath the bed. I quickly unlocked it and read through his texts. Thank goodness for good memory and fast reading skills because I was able to read enough messages to understand that Brandon had been talking to Matthew about me.  
Once again, Brandon beat me to the punch and said, "Listen, I think you two are perfect for each other."  
"What are you, the human eHarmony?" I said  
Brandon laughed and said, "No, I'm your best friend, and I think you deserve a nice guy in your life."  
After an abusive boyfriend, and a failed relationship with a douche bag scientist who cheated on me with my roommate, Brandon had a point. I did need to meet a nice guy. Not necessarily to sleep with him or anything, but just to restore my faith in men and know that they aren't all horny scumbags.  
"You're going to need to give me a little bit more background on this Matthew bloke." I said  
Brandon beamed at that and said, "For starters, he's an actor."  
"Ok" I said feeling a little dubious about that  
"He's not orange like the lorax-  
"Ok sold" I said.  
Brandon blinked and said, "That's it?"  
I grinned and said, "I'll let you do the introducing."  
With that Brandon nodded and said, "We should get going."  
I turned to look at the clock that read 7:35  
"We're going to be really late." I said  
Brandon shook his head and said, "Excuse my ego to burst out for a few seconds, but have you forgotten who I am?"  
With a few key strokes and a few words to someone, Brandon said, "Let's go my ravishing ginger."  
This is the part where I tell you that my best friend is a rock star-Brandon Flowers, front man and lead singer of The Killers…making young girls and boys swing their bras and panties onto stage as his angelic voice penetrated their way into their pores and down the pleasure spots.  
Leaving the hotel was chaotic because the paparazzi was blinding us with all their flashes, but thankfully we made it to the limo. Letting me in first, I asked Brandon, "Who did you call?"  
"Just wait." He replied  
the car took off, and that's when I realized that Brandon had a whole intersection closed so that the limo could freely travel to Cesar's Palace without being intruded by new's anchor cars or paparazzi vehicles.  
I smiled like a fool and said, "You brilliant asshole!"  
"What? Brandon said laughing  
"You closed down a street people use just to get us on time!" I said marveled  
"Only while we get there, once we're at Caesar's they'll open it back up." He said  
"See, I'm very considerate." He laughed  
"Yes you are." I said while peering out the limo's large window at the empty clean intersection  
"Careful dear, your soul is showing." He teased  
"I have none. "I said  
we both laughed at made it to Caesar's Palace.

Once in the hotel, two security guards escorted us to the party zone. As soon as I burst through the door, my jaw dropped. This place was insane. Bright lights bounced off the walls as the DJ's played their tunes and people dressed with all sorts of difference extravaganzas danced and smiled. Tables were filled with food, good food, healthy food, junk food, all sorts of food. There was 5 fountain chocolates, including a fountain of beer? Talking about alcohol, there was a bar the size of a small city in Africa. This place was unbelievable. I turned to see Brandon being attacked by a few fans and I cut in whispering into his ear, "I'm going to go look for my cousin!" Before I could be stopped by him I disappeared into the crowd of lovely dancing queens and kings. Knowing my cousin, I found him talking to the bartender. The bartender seemed to be well fit and in his early 20's. He had a wicked sleeve of tattoos on one arm, and a few quotes on the other. As I approached I could hear his thick Scottish accent. I felt that I was someplace better than home. I saw the silhouette of my tall cousin. I thought about jumping on him, but thought he might be a bit tipsy. So instead I walk up to the bartender and say, "Hey, I'm looking for some dude who's turning 21 today. He's got red hair like me, but lighter, green eyes, and freckles, his kind of looks like a hobbit- like Martin Freeman's adaption of Bilbo Baggins. The bartender and some other laughter that I couldn't place a face on laughed. The bartender winked at me in typical flirty Scottish mannerisms and then my cousin turned around and said, "Kaz?"  
I threw my pale hands around his neck and hugged the air out of him. "HAPPY 21st birthday you, you adult!" I shouted  
my cousin held on to me and said, "Omg, I thought you were still in Scotland and wait, what YOU'RE REALLY HERE!" He said  
"Yeah!" I said  
"I wouldn't miss my baby cousin's 21st even if the sky was falling!" I laughed  
"The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" he joked  
the bartender smiled at us and said, "Sister and brother?"  
"Cousins, almost siblings" we both replied.  
"Hey Niall, how about you get us some Guinness?" said my cousin Kurt  
"I'd need to see an ID miss." He said  
I laughed and grabbed my ID from my clutch and gave it to Niall. Niall held the ID to my face and said, "I don't know…"  
"Oh stop checking my cousin out and give her a bloody drink already!" said Kurt  
"Overprotective much?" I said  
"Duh, he said."  
"Relax" Niall said, "I was only trying to see her birthplace."  
"Why see when you can ask me." I said  
"Well, I could have, but your accent gives it away." He smiled  
with that, Niall brought down our drinks and my brother and I grinned.  
"Tradition?" he smiled  
"Tradition!" I said  
in typical tradition of the Valentine family, we chugged down our ice cold beverages and laughed.  
This kept on going for 5 more glasses before Kurt said he needed to refresh himself, and left to use the restroom. I let him go and sat by the bar alone. I stared at all the pretty faces for a while.  
Just when I got impatient, Niall took my empty glass and said, "Dear, I have to go because my shift is over, but it was nice seeing a fellow Scot again."  
I gave him a warm smile and said, "Right back at you Niall, you'll probably see me tomorrow."  
"I hope so" he said and left.  
With that, I started to look around the room when this man came up to me and said, "Hitting on the bartender are we?"  
I would have sworn in was Brandon because he spoke in the same tone he did whenever I was "up to no good" but I knew Brandon's voice well, and this wasn't it.  
"He was Scottish and really attractive." I said  
I turned to see a tall lanky man in front of me. His hair was light brown and below his jaw in a choppy messy bed hair way. He had big hazel eyes and long eyelashes to compliment them even more. His bone structure was that of male models, and his posture radiated laid back. I laughed like a fool and said,  
"I think I have found a rival."  
He squinted not understanding, and I stood up to examine his eyes.  
Underneath his eyes lay these intense under eye bags. On most people, they'd look like shit, but on him they looked natural, like they really belonged there.  
He realized what I was looking at and said, "Ah, my under eye bags…I know they're bad-"  
"No, they're awesome!" I quickly replied  
"Really?" he said sounding amused  
I nodded and said, "I had never met anyone with dark circles as bad as mine."  
He laughed and said, "I'm sure yours aren't this bad."  
"Oh they are!" I said  
"I just have heavy duty makeup to hide them." I said  
"Hm, you should embrace them." He said  
"Well, If I keep it up I said nodding at the alcoholic drinks in front of me "I'll be so hammered I'll jump into the pool, and expose my under eye circles to the world."  
The guy laughed and I realized how white his teeth were. He had a great smile, and his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed.  
He laughed a bit more and said, "I only have one photo in my hands, and one of them is NOT America's Darkest under Eye Circles!" Muahahaha he laughed  
I laughed so hard I grabbed my stomach and said, "You're hilarious."  
"No, I'm Matthew" he cleverly said in between giggles  
I smiled back at him and said, "And I'm Karen."  
We stared at each other for a few more seconds before it hit me. This might be the Matthew Brandon was talking to me about.  
Just like that, Brandon's voice resonates in the room as he says, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are here not only to celebrate the birthday of my dear friend Kurt, but also Matthew Gray Gubler's birthday! Everyone in the room yelled and screamed happy birthday. A few girls yelled, "We love you Matt!"  
Matthew turned to the bar and looked a little bit embarrassed. He smiled at me and said, "Lets start all over again."  
"I'm Matthew…Gray…Gubler" he finished as the bartender brought him 8 vodka shots and he swung one down like it was water.  
My eyes widened and I said, "Luckily for you, I have no idea who you are, at least not entirely, and I'm willing to consider you a normal person and help you finish those drinks."  
At that, Matthew smiled and raised his shot and said, "Cheers Karen!"  
With that, a wild Brandon appeared. Wide eyed and dazed he slurred, "HEY, YOU TWO MET ALREADY!"

We both nodded and Brandon said, "Let's drink to that!"  
Before we could deny Brandon's invitation, the Bartender was already lining up more vodka shots."  
"Oh boy." I said  
Handing us each a drink, Brandon said, "To friendship, and Kurt, and you Matthew!"  
"Cheers"  
Down the drink went to my stomach and into my head. After 3 more shots, the effects of alcohol took pace, and I felt myself become an animal. I grabbed Brandon's hand who grabbed Matthew, and we all started dancing. I could tell that none of us really knew how to dance, but we didn't care. We just moved around and danced like no one was watching. I let every bone of my body loosen up and just feel the music. Matthew started doing this weird tap dancing and Brandon tried to imitate Elvis Presley. My cousin Kurt reappeared with a drink in hand. I took his guinness from him and started drinking more of it. Brandon came to me and said, "Hey, gimme some of that!"  
Matthew laughed and said, "Let's go for more shots!"  
We took another three shots and that blew our brains out. Matthew and I were like energizer bunnies. We danced everywhere. We laughed like retards, and sometime later we ended up on top of the bar dancing. Apparently we were so out of control that the other bartenders were called to help control us and take restore of their bar. By the time Niall reappeared, Matthew found his way down the bar top, and said, "Oh thou Juliet jump into my arms."  
Being so damn tipsy I didn't think about it twice, "Yes Romeo, yes!" I said as I turned around and let myself collapse into Matthew's arms.  
Surprisingly enough he caught me, and hadn't dropped me.  
He spun me around three times before stopped and saying, "Ok, maybe spinning wasn't such a good idea."  
Niall stepped by our sides and said, "Ok you two lovebirds, it's time to go back from wherever you two came from."  
"What?" I said  
Niall placed his hands on his hips and cracked his fingers, "Look around you!" he said  
The room was nearly empty and trashed. A few people sat at the tables, and others lay on the ground. Some were naked, some were laughing. Matthew looked at me with a shocked expression and said,  
"Where's Brandon?"  
"Where's my cousin?" I said  
Niall laughed and said, "Ah, they both left already, and they left me with clear instructions to make sure you two get back safely."  
"How?" I said  
Matthew just nodded and said, "Shit, I'm gonna be so wasted tomorrow."  
I turned to look at him and felt kind of bad for him.  
I never suffered from massive headaches from being hungover. I guess my body was immune to alcohol.  
Niall said, "Come on, I'll get you two to the car."  
Without questioning him, we made it out the hotel and into the limo.  
I was so dizzy I pretty much just planted myself to the seat. Matthew nudged my foot and said,  
"Care to make room please?"  
I slowly moved up and sat. Once Niall closed the door I couldn't help but to collapse my head on the left window. Matthew sat on the right side and just looked at me with concern.  
"Are you okay?" he said  
"Kind of." I said  
He placed his hand and my knee and said, "Sorry I encouraged you to drink so much."  
"Don't be so silly I said, it's not like you forced me to drink."  
Before the car took off, the chauffer said "where to?" and we surprisingly both answered, "Mandalayan Bay."  
"You staying there too?" said Matthew  
"Yes, didn't Brandon tell you?" I said confused  
"No, he just told me he was in Las Vegas and that he'd be making it to the party with a gorgeous friend."  
Said Matthew  
"So …I said." "What do you think of Brandon's friend?"  
Matthew smiled and said, "Well, she's very pretty, and funny, and knows how to have fun."  
I smiled and giggled.  
"I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this, and it must be the alcohol?" I said  
"Like this?" he responded.  
"I'm not usually this brave to ask these type of questions, I'm never this bold." I finished  
"Aw he said, I bet you're a softy."  
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." I said  
He stared at my freckles before saying, "What do you think of me?"  
Without thinking I said, "You're really cute."  
We both burst into laughter and I said,  
"I mean, you could have totally murdered your grandma in her sleep, but you're super cute, but hot, and you are a great dancer, and you're funny and you can hold your alcohol down and  
"We're here" said the chauffer.  
He opened the door, and Matthew helped me out. Forgetting our conversation in the car, he put an arm around my shoulders and I did the same. In we walked to the hotel stumbling like mad drunks. People stared at us, but I didn't care. I felt safe next to him. When the hotel doors open, I accidentally tripped but Matthew caught me.  
"You ok?" he said  
"Yeah, I'm just clumsy." I said  
"Ladies first" he said  
(Implying that I should punch in my floor number first.)  
"Ugh I said as I collapsed to the ground  
"You go first, mines the highest one." I said  
Mathew punched in his floor number, and sat down next to me. He wrapped his around over my shoulder and with his hand gestured me to lean in and said, "Me too."  
My eyes opened at that he said, "Don't worry, I'm not stalking you."  
"I wouldn't mind." I replied  
Matthew just laughed and said, "I'm not used to having someone be so honest."  
"Don't get used to it I said, It's the alcohol." Matthew laughed and got up when the elevator door opened to our hall. Instead of getting up, I crawled out. Matthew burst out laughing and then covered his mouth remembering that there was probably other people in the hall.  
Matthew looked down on me and said, "Need a hand."  
"Nope." I said.  
Matthew got on his fours and said, "What room number are you in?"  
"A1" I said.  
"A0" he said.  
We both squinted at each other and he said, "race to your room?"  
"Deal!" I said  
we crawled as fast as we could and laughed so hard we were both sucked down to the ground to soothe our stomach and then keep going.  
Just an inch away from me, Matthew made it to my room door first.  
"I won!" he said victoriously  
He got up, wiped his hands on his jeans and took my hands into his to help me up.  
"You're hands are really soft." I said  
"Eerily soft." He said  
I laughed and said, "My lady, you are at your door."  
He curtsied and I said, "Matthew Gray Gubler, you are unbelievable."  
He smiled and said, "Will I see you tomorrow?"  
"What time is it?" I asked  
Matthew checked his neat black watch and said, "11:23"  
I laughed and said, "You will see me if Brandon doesn't kill me for coming in so late."  
"I'll see you tomorrow then." Matthew winked and walked away.  
Before sliding my card through the scanning thing at the door, Matthew crept up on me and said, "I forgot to tell you that I drew this for you."  
I took the small notepad paper and laughed. "This is awesome Matthew!" I said  
"I drew it while you talked to your cousin and Niall." He said grinning  
"You were staring at me?" I said  
"Hmm, a little?" He admitted  
"It's hard not to." He finished

"Mathew are you flirting-  
"I'm never this blunt either, and I figured if you aren't either and yet you're doing it, I can too." He said happily  
I breathed in and said, "I am going to frame this."  
"Would you mind signing it?" I said  
Before Matthew could reply, Brandon swung the door open and said, "KAREN JANE VALENTINE, DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?"  
Matthew couldn't hold it together and laughed  
"Oh, you think this is funny?" Brandon said  
"It's my fault" Matthew said.  
"Leave the princess alone and smite me!"  
We all burst out laughing and then Matthew said, "If you want it autographed, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."  
"Meanwhile, I leave you and your fairy godmother alone." Said Matthew as he walked away and entered his room.  
Brandon dragged me into the room and said, "You two are crazy."  
I giggled like a man woman and said, "I hate you."  
"I think I really like him!" I said laughing  
Brandon just waved his hand and said, "Go shower and stay out of trouble."  
Before heading to the shower, I looked at Brandon and said, "Are you wearing eyeliner?"  
"Guy liner" he laughed.  
"Not gonna ask." I said

With that I locked the bathroom door, shimmied out of my skintight black dress, took my pumps off, took my tiny diamond stud necklace off, removed my lacy black undergarments and took a steamy shower. I towel dried and changed into my black pajama bottoms and nirvana tee. When I exited the bathroom Brandon was sound asleep. I crawled into bed and spread a blanket over him. Mind you, while Brandon may have booked the best room in the hotel, it only came with one huge bed, so we slept in the same bed. This was no problem for us since we were mature enough and besides, we use to have sleepovers all the time. I lie in bed and before closing my eyes, I thought of Matthew, and how I'd never felt so accepted by someone (asides from Brandon) so quickly. I hadn't felt that comfortable around someone that fast in a long time- it was nice.  
I shut my eyes and swept into paradise.

Matthew's POV  
When I got to my hotel room, I reached for my phone and texted Brandon  
"She's stunning and amazing." I texted  
I lay in bed thinking about all the other girlfriends Brandon had introduced me to. They were all kind but none were like Karen. Not to be shallow- but this girl was just stunning. Not to be a douche bag, but I have a thing for girls with brown hair and milky complexions. While I like my girls a bit more curvy, Karen was just beautiful. She had dark red hair, it was almost a shade of brown but definitely had red in it. Her eyes were these green emeralds with drops of honey in them. For a girl, she was really tall, but I loved that. I loved that she still wore heels and walked around confidently. She had an adorable button nose and very faint freckles over her nose and cheeks. You had to lean in or be very close to notice. She also had a Scottish accent that I found very attractive. I felt like a school boy with an obvious crush on the prettiest girl in the entire school. I got up to shower and wondered if she was thinking about me. I dried and changed into my black pajama pants and baggy band shirt. Before heading to bed I called my mother who happily greeted me. I talked to her about Karen and told her how I felt smitten. Mama Gubler said that if I feel like she's the one I better make a move and let her know. She also said she wanted ginger grandchildren and that I should treat her like a queen and that she loved me. With that, I fell asleep thinking of her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

After 5 minutes of lying in bed I felt a wave of adrenaline curse through my body. I could say I had no idea where it came from, but it probably had something to do with the vast amount of alcohol that was in my body. I stood up and saw the clock. It was only 11:40. As I fumbled to get the sheets away from me, Brandon raised himself with his elbows and said,  
"Insomnia again?"  
"No, I'm just feeling restless." I said  
Brandon gave this thought and said, "Its funny how two people were joined on their birthday today, just out of the blue."  
Brandon plopped down and said, "But that's life for you, full of mysteries, horror, and adventure.  
As Brandon wrapped himself with the plush blanket I smiled at the thought of my closest cousin turning 21. Kurt and I we're almost siblings. When my parents died in that horrible car accident, my aunt Stella and Uncle Sam took me in as one of their own. Kurt and I were pretty much raised under the same household until I left for University it Scotland. Brandon's also like a brother to me, but then again- he's more than a brother. When I awoke from my coma in the hospital after the car crash, he was the first one I saw. He lay in a chair next to my bed. His body was bent and looked uncomfortable as he laid his head in my hand and his hand on my other hand. You can only imagine how relieved and happy he was when I gave his hand a nudge to let him know that I was alive. He was so happy he jumped up and down the room and then ran out to bring my cousin Kurt in with him. And that's the way it's always been. I was beyond happy that Kurt was finally an adult, a happy person. After a severe battle with depression throughout most of his teenage life, it was really nice to see him smile and let go at the party tonight. The more I thought about his birthday, the more I thought about what Brandon had said.  
"Two people joined on their birthday"…  
I sat up straighter and realized what he meant. I realized what I had forgotten about tonight.  
"Holy shit." I said  
Thankfully Brandon was deep in his sleep and didn't react to it.  
"Holy shit, I forgot to say Happy Birthday to Matthew." I thought  
Once again, I found myself pacing back and forth the room. This time however, I was in the comfort of my own bare feet and comfy pajamas. I took a peak at the clock once more and saw it displayed 11:50.  
Before over thinking the situation, I went back to the night stand, grabbed the odd but awesome picture that Matthew had drew of me and went out of the room. It only took a few steps to get to "A0". I bit my lip before knocking and hoped he wasn't asleep. I knocked once and waited. Nothing. I knocked twice and counted to ten. Still nothing. I sighed and knocked once more. That's when I heard footsteps and Matthew say, "One moment."  
I smiled as he opened the door and saw him shirtless. For someone so lanky and thin looking, he was rather fit. I'm not talking steroid rage or Greek god muscles, but he certainly wasn't flabby. His abs we're quite defined and his arms were even more toned with muscle. He realized I was staring at him and then very cutely said, "Am I dreaming?"  
"Hm, maybe, maybe not." I said  
Matthew leaned into the doorway hiding half of his torso and said,  
"You know, you say that a lot."  
I blushed and said, "It adds mystery."  
He laughed and said, "Did your fairy godmother send you to come get me so she can scorn me for bringing you home so late?"  
I giggled and said, "No, actually."  
Matthew cocked his head to the side and saw that I was holding his drawing in one hand.  
He smiled and said, "I like your persistence, but you'll still have to wait until tomorrow."  
"It's not about that." I said  
Matthew raised his eyebrows and said, "OH?"  
Before I could say anything else, a hoard of drunken college frat boys came down our hall. One of them hollered, "Hey baby, you want some of this?"  
The tallest one said, "How much the night toots?" Matthew frowned and looked like he was going to say something, but instead I placed my hand on his chest to push him back and he realized how red I had turned. I bet my cheeks were the color of blood.  
He then looked at me with puppy eyes and said, "Stupid bastards, don't let them get to you."  
"I know they're just idiots." I said  
"Still, I hate when people act like that." I finished  
Matthew placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Come on in, I'll tell you all about my glorious days of being bullied."  
I looked up at him and thought he was joking, but he wasn't. All I could think about as I entered his room was why the hell anyone would make fun of someone so awesome. Then it hit me that Matthew was different, weird...and while that was awesome and amazing to me, a lot of people treated weird different people like they were dirt.  
Once in the room, I naturally started observing everything. It was my natural instinct to just do so.  
Matthew interrupted my analysis as he said, "Sorry it's a bit messy in here."  
"It's actually pretty tidy and neat in here." I said  
He looked around the room and I said, "Sorry, it's my natural habit to just observe everything."  
"Don't be sorry, I think it's cool and smart to do so." He said  
I sat down on the center of his bed and he took a chair out and placed it in front of the bed. That way we were face to face, but still had enough space in between us to not feel awkward or anything.  
I turned back to search for a clock and saw that it read, "11:58"  
"Holy shit." I said a little too loud  
"Pardon me?" Said Matthew  
I looked around the room again and began playing with my hands in a nervous manner. I sucked it up and looked him in the eye and said, "Matthew, the reason I knocked on your door is because despite the fact that you told me it was your birthday I had forgotten to congratulate you or hug you or anything, and I'm so sorry, that must have been really rude of me."  
Exasperated, I stared at a rather amused Matthew. He placed a finger in his lips as to avoid smiling, but instead he ended up looking really sexy and I had to look down again to avoid my silly thoughts to get into my head.  
Matthew said, "Look up at me."  
I looked at him and then he burst out laughing. I on the other hand just lay in the center of his bed really confused. I felt so out of place and out of it that my eyes started to get watery; I couldn't understand why he was laughing so hard.  
Matthew took notice of this and said, "Oh don't cry!"  
He got out of his seat and into his bed and gave me a sweet hug.  
He placed his chin on top of my head as he warmly embraced me and said, "I knew you were a softy."  
I tried to laugh at that but instead felt even more odd that he had figured me out. As you can see, I wasn't very good at letting my walls down.  
Matthew pulled me out of a hug and now sat very close to me.  
"I didn't tell you it was my birthday and you have nothing to feel bad about." Said Matthew.  
"Matthew, there-  
He interrupted me and said, "Call me Matt."  
"Matt" I said, trying it again.  
"There was a bunch of girls singing to you, and I knew it was your birthday and I still didn't say anything."  
Feeling like I had nothing left to say I looked up at Matt to see him biting his lips.  
He cocked his head and seemed to be lost in thought. After a few seconds, Matthew perked up and had a big smile on his face. I couldn't help but to feel myself blushing.  
"What?" I whispered  
in the same tone Brandon had earlier, Matt very dramatically said, "Karen Jane Valentine, this is what you feel bad about?"  
I looked around the room trying to find the right words when I finally just spit it out, "I have a huge conscious and sometimes I feel horrible for things that people normally wouldn't, and I tried to sleep but I couldn't get you out of my mind-  
Matthew's teeth flashed and the room was illuminated by his smile.  
"Oh shit" I thought.  
"You couldn't get my out of your head?" He said  
"Yes…because I felt like I had been rude to you earlier." I said trying to recover  
"Not because I'm cute?" he said  
I bust out laughing and said, "Sure Matt, let's pretend the only reason I am in your room is because I find you adorable and not because my stupid conscious wouldn't let me sleep."  
"Fine by me."" Said Matthew  
I didn't feel like letting him win so I said, "I have insomnia, I need all the sleep I can get whenever my body allows me to."  
When I finished Matthew seemed interested and said, "You have insomnia?"  
"Unfortunately." I replied  
"Unfortunately?" he said  
"You know most people always tell me that's a tragic thing when I tell them I have insomnia." I said  
"You go around telling people you have insomnia like its some big super power?" said Matt  
"No." I groaned.  
"When I first started working at the hospital, my coworkers always gave me crap for my under eye bags." "They thought I was up all night partying or being promiscuous." I said.  
"So after a month of taking their garbage I had a meltdown and told them that I had insomnia, and that they could all shove their theories about me up their ass."  
"Wow." Matthew said  
"Yeah, wow." I finished  
"You work at a hospital?" He asked curious  
"It's a long story." I said  
"Luckily for you, I don't sleep at night either." He said  
"You have insomnia too?" I asked him  
"Not really, I just usually go to bed very late." He said  
"Tell me about your job." He said  
"Ugh, it's such a long and boring story." I whined  
"Fine, tell me about your insomnia." He said  
"My insomnia?" I replied  
"Yes." He said "Where does it come from or when did it start?"  
I bit my bottom lip remembering how my insomnia started. It began a month after my coma, a month after the car accident that killed both of my parents. Once I moved in with my aunt and uncle, I started having these horrible nightmares. The nightmares got so out of hand that I was too scared to sleep. It started out with me not sleeping for a week for fear that I'd have another nightmare and wake up in panic. Soon after that, I just stopped sleeping. Of course my uncle and aunt noticed because I started getting killer migraines too. I lost weight, and of course the dead giver away we're my under eye bags. I've always had naturally dark circles, but when my insomnia first started, they were just bad. For a while, it looked like someone had literally beaten the crap out of me. Makeup wasn't working anymore, and my aunt and uncle decided to take me to a doctor. From there the kind doctor let me know that I was underweight, anemic, and that my soul lacked happiness. He prescribed me vitamin d and to eat more, and then sent me to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asked me some standard questions, and then asked me about my sleeping and eating habits. I told her how I had lost interest in a lot of things, mainly because I saw no purpose to them, or because I was too tired to do them anymore. I let her know that I wasn't starving myself, but that I wasn't as hungry as I use to be. I'd sleep through my meals. After the evaluation, my psychiatrist informed me that I was definitely depressed and most likely had insomnia. She said she'd let me know if I really did have insomnia once my test results got back (which they did, and I was diagnosed with insomnia). As to my depression, she said that normally, someone as depressed as I was would get anti-depressants, but that she knew I didn't need them. She told me she trusted that I could make a change for myself. So she never put me on anti-depressants. I thought about all our therapy sessions and how much she helped me and what an impact she made on my life when Matthew tapped the side of my head and said, "Earth to alien, you there?"  
I blinked and said, "Sorry, I spaced off."  
"So are you gonna tell me all the juicy details?" he said  
"Matt, there's nothing cool about insomnia." I said  
"Sure there is!" he said  
"You don't have insomnia, you wouldn't know." I said a bit too bitterly  
Thankfully he didn't' take it the wrong way and said,  
"You're right, I don't have insomnia, but I like the idea that while most people are sleeping, there are a few little freaks up a night doing normal things like cleaning their room, or watching Netflix, or reading a book, or folding clothes, or decorating, eating, etc." he said  
"The night is so much more fascinating." He said  
"I hate the dark." I said  
"Me too." He said  
"Then how is the night fascinating?" I said  
"It adds adventure. Go to a movie theater for a midnight premiere…go with a couple of friends and as you walk with them in the dark, you feel like a total badass." He finished  
I laughed and Matt said, "Aha!"  
Matt? I said  
"Yes?" he said  
"I don't really want to talk about my insomnia and its origin…it's not something I am comfortable talking about."  
Matt's face turned from that of a happy puppy to that of a puppy that just got ran over. He looked at me and I could tell that he wanted to say something to make it all better but instead I said,  
"I wish I could say that I just have insomnia because it's a genetic thing or my brain just won't let me, but I'd be lying. I don't want to travel to this dark phase I went through and…"  
I didn't realize that I had started shaking, but I did. And I wasn't just shaking, but I felt like I was having a full on anxiety attack, because my whole body was trembling. Matt tried to get me to look at him but I couldn't. I could feel his eyes dancing on me, but I still couldn't look at him. Ever so gently he raised my chin with his hand and I shut my eyes tight. Matt leaned me onto him and whispered into my ear, "Tell me if you need anything, do you need water or -  
"I just need you by my side." Was all I could manage  
Matt sat by my side, he slid one hand across my shoulders as he pulled me into him. As I shut my eyes I kept telling myself to breathe, that this was just a panic attack and that I wasn't going to die. After some time, I raised my head from my knees and Matt instantly shot up.  
"Are you…better now?" he said looking really worried.  
"I'm sorry." I said  
"I'm really so-  
I couldn't even finish my apologies before I burst out crying.  
"Hey, don't cry!" Matt softly said  
"I'm such an idiot!" I said  
"I shouldn't have come here to bother you and I can't even talk about some things because this happens all the time and I'm so-  
"Stop saying you're sorry!" Matt said sounding a bit desperate  
"There's nothing you should feel sorry for or embarrassed about." He said  
I had heard that a lot in the past, but when Matt said it, it sounded sincere. Instead of shutting down again I said,  
"You're the best."  
He gave me a sly smile and said, "You're different."  
I looked up at him and saw that he meant it in a good way. He whole heartedly did.  
I let go of my frustration and just started laughing.  
"Oh oh" said Matt  
"Please tell me you aren't a bipolar psychopath and that you aren't going to stab me now."  
I laughed more and said, "No, I feel better now."  
"Really?" he said  
"Yes." I replied  
"Good!" he said  
"Now I can do this." He said so as he grabbed me to wrap my torso around his legs. My back faced his face as his long noodle legs embraced me and that's when his soft hands started drilling into my sides. I started fidgeting and laughing at the same time.  
"This is torture!" I giggled  
"No, this is called tickling." Matt said  
I tried to use my hands to break free from his hold, but that wasn't working. Instead I used my weight to bring me down to my side and then removed his legs from me. I tried to jump out of bed but I was too slow and he caught my foot and dragged me back into bed.  
"What's this?" he said as he took my sock off.  
"It's a tattoo!" I responded as he inspected my tattoo at the bottom backside of my left foot."  
I thought about talking to him about it so he wouldn't tickle me anymore so I opened up and said, "I got it when Toy Story 3 came out. Brandon and I were both in Scotland and we hadn't seen each other in such a long time so we went to the premiere and then after it we cried so much and got drunk and decided to get Andy tattooed, like Woody had Andy tattooed in his boot and…"  
"That's sweet" Matt said still observing it.  
"You know what else a foot is good for?"" he said smiling  
"Tickling!"" he finished  
Matt started to tickle my foot and I just flailed around like a fish without a water.  
"Stop!" I said  
"Never!" He shouted  
I used my other foot to kick his hand and then ended up wrapping myself around him and tickling him too. In a few seconds Matt unwrapped my legs from him and pinned my arms to the bed. I tried to fight him as he was inches away from my body, but he was too strong. Instead I kicked my knees up and hit him in the stomach. With that, he let go of my hands but fell on top of me. For a few seconds, things were a bit awkward since he was literally on top of me, and his chest was pressed up to mine and so and so, but he just kept tickling me, and I did too.  
Somehow his hands made it up to my neck- my ultimate tickle-ish spot and that's where I lost it all. I started laughing really loud and begged him to stop.  
"Matt, I'm going to piss mys-  
Before I could finish my sentence there was a knock at the door, and we both froze.  
"Mr. Gubler." said a sweet voice  
Matt instantly got up and said, "One second!"  
For some reason we both bolt to the door and there stood a young girl who roughly looked like she was 18 saying, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's been a small complaint." She said  
"A complaint?" Matt said  
"Yes, your neighbor called the front desk to have someone to check up on you, saying he heard a lot of uhm laughing and jumping going on, physical activity?"  
Matthew laughed and I said, "Neighbor? You mean room A1?"  
"Yes, Mr. Flowers" she finished  
"Oh!" she said remembered something  
"Yes?" Matt said  
"He asked me to tell you something, but I don't know how serious he was about it."" She said shyly  
"What he'd say?" said Matt  
The poor girl looked embarrassed as she said, "Don't ruffle the feathers on my fiery majestic dove, or I will put Nair on your shampoo bottle."  
I tried not to be rude but that sent me to laugh and then Matthew laughed and then the girl started laughing too.  
"I'm so sorry he put you up to this." I said  
she smiled and said, "Its ok, I got to talk to Brandon Flowers!"  
I smiled and said, "You like the Killers?"  
"I'm a huge fan!" She said  
"I've been trying to go to their concerts but I'm always short on money." She said  
realizing what she said her eyes grew wide and said, "Omg, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be complaining about my life to you two-sorry!"  
I smiled and said, "No it's ok!"  
Matt followed up by saying, "I happen to know someone who's very close to Mr. Brandon."  
He looked at me and I said, "Yes!"  
Not following us I said, "You booked Brandon into his room and also noted that a girl named Karen would be staying with him." I said  
"Ah yes!" she said.  
"I was told Karen was Mr. Brandon's best friend, is that right?" she said  
Nodding I said, "Hi, I'm Karen."  
"OMG!"" she whispered.  
I giggled at how cute she was and Matt asked, "What's your name?"  
"Sydney." She said  
"Sydney how would you like to attend the Killers concert here this Friday?" I said  
Sydney said, "No way, I couldn't, you wouldn't…omg!"  
"Let me grab a pen." I said  
I ran back into the room and Matthew followed me leading me to pen and paper.  
I wrote down my name and cellphone number and handed the paper to Sydney, "Call me tomorrow and I'll give you more details." I said  
Sydney's walkie talking started peeping and then a voice came out of it asking her to check up on the lobby." She lowered its volume and hugged me.  
"Thank you so much, you're an angel" she said  
"She's a ginger with a soul!" Matthew chimed in  
we all laughed out loud and then Sydney said, "I have to go!"  
We waved Sydney off and then Matthew closed the door saying,  
"That was really nice of you."  
"As a ginger, I have to prove everyone wrong and show them that we can be nice too." I said  
He laughed and said, "Lucky girl, she got your phone number.  
For some reason, I didn't mind that he was sort of flirting with me. I looked at him in the eye and said, "Matt, it's almost 1AM and things are unclear to me…are you flirting with me?"  
"It's about time you got the hint!" he playfully said  
"I'm very bad at this flirting lingo stuff." I admitted  
"I'm pretty romantic." Matthew said.  
"Is that so?" I said  
He just laughed and said, "I once gave a girl a bloody fake ear in a Tiffany jewelry box with a letter that said, "Will you _**Gogh**_ to prom with me?" yeah, I guess I'm a romantic."  
"Wow, such romance!" I teased  
"You don't believe me?" he said pretending to pout  
"Hm." I said  
Matthew scampered to the sitting area and brought out his laptop from his backpack.  
He plopped it down and said, "We are watching Netflix."  
"How is this going to prove your point?" I asked  
"I'm going to pick a movie to watch, and if it's not romantic, you can hit me or something." He said  
"How about I believe you and we just watch a movie instead?" I suggested  
"That sounds less violent." He said flashing me his whites  
"So what do we watch?" he asked  
"Surprise me."" I said  
He stared at me and said, "Let me look into your eyes and figure out what kind of movie genre you are." He mysteriously said  
As he stared he started talking, "Your eyes have tiny lines by their sides meaning they crinkle a lot, and the corners of your mouth have tiny lines too meaning you must laugh a lot, and you can be very sarcastic and broody…" he trailed off and picked a movie.  
I had no idea which movie he had picked, but we ended up on with our backs against the bed's headboard. We sat side by side with too many pillows and the laptop rested on his lap. The movies stated and the title of it was, "Our Idiot Brother."  
My eyes grew huge as I saw Paul Rudd, and Matthew must have caught on because he said,  
"What's wrong?"  
I giggled before I said, "I am madly in love with Paul Rudd."  
"I think we all are."" He said  
I liked that he admitted that and asked him if he's ever watched the movie.  
Matt nodded and then said, "Yes, but I'm in love with Hugh Dancy."  
"I've been in love with him since Confessions of a Shopaholic!"  
Mathew looked at me very seriously and said, "You speak…  
"PRADA!" we both said together  
We ended up watching the movie until it ended at 3 am and then Matt and I just watched videos of Paul Rudd dancing and Hugh Dancy interviews.  
Matt? I said  
"Mhm." He said with weariness in his voice  
"Happy birthday." I said  
"It's not my birthday anymore." He said  
"But, you can tell me so next year." He giggled  
"I hope we're friends by then." He added  
"We already are…are we?" I said  
I sat up on my knees and said, "Matthew Gray Gubler, this is my cordial invitation to ask you for your permission to be my friend." ""Will you be my friend?" I said  
Matt just looked at me and said, "I can't take you seriously in your pajamas."  
"Matthew Gray Gubler answer my question!"  
"Fine." He said  
"I'll be your friend."  
"Good." I said  
Somehow watching videos made us really tired and my body ended up literally next to his, our hips touching and my head also found its way to his chest. Hearing his heart beat with mine, I shut my eyes and fell asleep.  
All I remember was Matthew turning his computer off to slide it into the nightstand, and him whispering into my ear, "March 10th marks our friendship anniversary."  
"Good night." He whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Someone told me long ago,  
there's a calm before the storm, I know shinning down like water,  
I wanna know, have you ever seen the-  
_My mother carefully tugged at my earphones causing them to fall and said,  
"We've been talking to you for minutes and you haven't been listening to us!" she calmly said  
"Sorry, I had my earphones on." I said"  
"Yes, we can see that." Said my father looking at me with his deep blue eyes from the rearview mirror  
I grabbed my iPod to pause the song and said, "So what we're you two telling me while I got lost to CCR?"  
"College." They said in unison  
"What about it?" I asked  
"Well, you're going away to a different country, and we know you've been looking at catalogues and reading online about their fashion, so we've been saving up money and thought it be nice to treat you to a shopping spree." My mother finished  
my eyes widened and my dad said, "Emilia, I think we have broken her!"  
I unbuckled my belt and crept forward to hug my dad, and then awkwardly side hugged me mom.  
I sat back down and tried to contain my happiness.  
"You guys didn't have to!" I said  
"Karen dear, you're an angel and deserve to be splurged." My mother said  
"You already do." I said  
my father, being an economist and my mother a physician, they both made bank on their own, but together, you could say they made high class money.  
My father chimed in and said, "You're also our only child and we have to spoil you once more before you leave and we're left with no one to spoil."" He said smiling.  
"There's always charity." I said  
"We already do that." My mother said  
I sighed and said, "I love you you hippies."  
"I love my two special ladies." Said my dad.  
To surprise you, my dad was actually the softy in our family. A closeted softy…meaning my father looked very intimidating with his dark blue eyes and stature of 6'4, but he's really a soft tall teddy beat. My mother was also sweet, but she wasn't so good at expressing it, at least not like my dad.  
She pretended to puke and said, "You two are like diabetes."  
We all laughed and as I reached for my iPod and my parents went back to talking, it happened.  
A semi-truck lost control and hit our car, causing it to flip twice. In that moment everything was magnified. People say that death can happen in the blink of an eye, and it really can. However the process of death seems infinite. Those few seconds seemed to last forever. I remember my father's last words to me were, "live" as he somehow found the strength to move and undo my belt all while the car flipped. Having my belt undone, I ended up flying out the car door and so did my parents. I landed far from the car, but my parents didn't. The last I remember was seeing the truck fall on our car, and my father's bloody skull. What I don't remember was screaming. I got up and started screaming my lungs out…this must be a dream. It's a dream.

"Karen, Karen!" Matt said as he shook me by my shoulders.  
I woke instantly and sat up. Drenched in sweat, Matthew jumped out of bed and brought me a towel and a water bottle.  
I took the bottle and forced the water down my throat. It stung so bad I could have sworn I was swallowing darts. After a few more gulps, the water soothed my throat and helped me say the next, "I'm-  
"Matthew's chest devoured me as he pulled me in for a hug and said,  
"Nightmare?"  
I thought about saying sorry but instead I said,  
"I hadn't had a nightmare like this one in a while."  
He pulled away from me and said,  
"Your heart feels like it might explode."  
"I wish."  
I Said as I took the dry towel and buried myself into it.  
I sunk myself back in and found Matthew's hand take the towel away from my face and say,  
"Don't ever say that."  
"Am I allowed to apologize for that?" I said  
"No." Matt said  
I looked at him and then at the room and the clock, I looked at the laptop and around the bed and Matt said, "You fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up."  
"It's ok." I said  
He looked around and said, "Do you need anything?"  
"No." I said  
"How about I take these sweaty sheets off?" I said  
"I'll do it." He said  
I got up and helped Matthew take the sheet away.  
"You should sit down." Matt said  
"No, I need to stay awake." I told him  
Matthew dropped it and when we were done he said, "There's extra sheets in the drawers here, let me go get them."  
Matt got the sheets and once again I helped him place new fresh sheets.  
When we finished, Matt sunk himself on the bed and then I said, "I should go."  
Matt instantly shot up sitting on his knees and grabbed my hand, "No!"  
I stepped back and he said,  
"Please don't, just stay."  
"You aren't going to sleep anymore, and I probably won't." he said  
"You want company?" I said  
"Yes." He whispered.  
He lay back down and patted the mattress gesturing me to lie back down with him. Taking the offer, I slid back into bed and said, "Maybe I should sleep on the couch so I don't sweat on the sheets again."  
"Don't be silly" he said.  
For a while, Matt and I just lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It was nice. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. It was just peaceful.  
Matt turned to face me and said, "We talk a lot, but I still have a bunch of lose strings when it comes to you."  
"Lose strings?" I said  
"Yes, you tell me something but you don't elaborate on it and before I can ask a question we just move on to something else." He said  
"I'm quite the introvert." I said  
"Yes." He said  
"I sometimes wish I could be an open book, but I think that would make me feel very odd, it wouldn't be me, and I've gotten comfortable with who I am…does that make sense?" I said  
"It makes perfect sense, although I don't know why someone like you wouldn't love themselves." He said  
"Ah, there's more than meets the eye Gubler." I said  
we took another moment of silence. This time I broke the quietness and said,  
"What is it that your precious little head ponders?"  
This time Matt said, "Are you really going to tell me?"  
I stared at him and said, "Let's see…I've woken you up, cried twice, had a panic attack, woken you up again to a screaming me and soaked your sheets in sweat, hmmm I think you deserve to have some answers." I said  
at this Matthew turned his whole body so he lay on one side and said, "To be fair, let's play a game."  
"Ok." I eagerly said  
"We will both ask each other questions." He said  
"And?" I said  
"And what?" he said  
"How do we know who wins or loses?" I said  
"Competitive are we?" he said smiling  
"A little." I said  
He gave it some thought and said, "Say you can't answer a question, then I have to answer it and if I do answer it, I or you win."  
"Perfect." I said smiling at him  
"When do we start?" he said  
"Now!" I said  
"Ok, ladies first." He said  
"Oh bullcrap, lets determine this the adult way." I said  
"Rock, paper, scissors?" he said  
"Damn right!" I said  
"Ready?"  
"Go!"  
We both chimed, "rock, paper, scissors!"  
We both chose paper.  
"Best 2 out of three?" Matt said  
"Yeah." I said  
again we chimed, "rock, paper, and scissors!" Matt had paper and I had scissors.  
"Rock, paper, scissors!" this time Matt chose rock and I chose scissors  
"Last round" I said.  
"Rock, paper, scissors!" Matt triumphantly won as she devoured my fist with his paper.  
"Eh, luck of the Irish." I said  
"You're Irish?" he asked  
"Yes." I said  
"And Scottish?" he asked  
"Hey, it's my turn!" I said  
"Oh, I see how we're playing." He said  
I giggled and said, "Hmm, are you Irish?"  
Matthew said, "Nope."  
"So what are you?" I said  
"Ah!" "Gotcha, wait your turn!" he said  
I laughed and then he said, "Tell me about your ancestry/nationality."  
"Well." I said "I was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, and Scotland, so that makes me Scottish. Also, half of my father's family is also from Scotland, and the other half is Finnish. My mother's side of the family is English and Irish. So I guess that would make me Scottish, Finnish, English, and Irish. "  
"Wow" he said.  
"What about you?"I asked  
"Well, I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I'm not exactly sure of my roots, my folks never really gave me the deeds on that stuff."  
"I'll help you find out, someday." I said  
"Here's a tough question, you ready?" I said  
Matt nodded.  
"What's your favorite color?"  
Matt laughed and said, "Green…or brown!"  
"How'd you get to wonderful Las Vegas?" he said  
"Well, we lived here, my parents were just on a trip at the time and my mom happened to give birth to me over at Scotland- I came a month early and so it just happened." "Literally, three days after my birth they flew black to Nevada, home, and well that's the story I how I was born in Scotland."  
"Why are you asking me all these questions?" I said  
"Because you're interesting, and you said I could." He said with a charming smile.  
"Ok Gubler, first crush?"  
Matt placed his hand on his heart and said, "Mary Poppins!"  
I smiled he said, "When I tickled you to death you told me you got a tattoo in Scotland and that you and Brandon hadn't seen each other in a while…what did you mean by that?"  
I cleared my throat and said, "That's technically two questions, but if you must know, Brandon was touring, and I was in Scotland for school… I studied abroad in Scotland."  
"If you could have one superpower what would it be?"  
"I give up." Said Matt  
"What?" I said  
"I'm getting impatient. I guess I lied and I just really want to know about you, be an open book for me will you?" he said  
I sighed and said, "the ability to refill things and then said "fine, I'll be all answers."  
Before he could fire me with just questions he said, "Refill things?"  
"I wish I could refill things like when I'm drinking soda or water or whatever and my drink runs out I could just re fill it without having to get up or if I'm eating pizza I could just refill my place and-"  
"That's incredible." Matt said  
I nodded and he said,  
"Ok, tell me all about you studying in Scotland, spill!"  
I turned on my side like he was and started talking, "During Senior year of high school an old teacher of mine took interest in me again and asked me about my plans after high school. I told him I wanted to take a gap year and just travel. Something about senior year made me feel burnt out and I just needed a break from school. This old teacher of mine told me to stay in school but consider studying abroad. He talked to me about his own course study is England and Spain. At the time, I had never thought about leaving America to study in another country, but it did appeal to me. Since his conversation, I started looking into studying abroad programs. Thankfully, he got a hold of a recruiter and she talked to me about the process of it. Long story short, I took a bunch of exams and studied like crazy to get a good score on both my ACT and SATS."  
Mathew cutely raised his finger and said, "So you did really well?"  
"Well enough to get a full ride scholarship and pay for the program and pretty much all of my living expenses." I said  
"You're that smart?" He said  
"I studied." I said  
"No, I bet you're a natural born genius." He said  
"Ok, I'm above average smart, but I'm not a genius, I need to study to do well." I said  
"Ok, keep telling me about your abroad studies." He said  
"Ugh, I just don't even know how to continue." I said  
"Just talk, I'll listen." He said  
"Well, yeah…I ended up being admitted and offered to have my studies paid for me, and so I went." I said  
"Didn't it scare you to be away from home?" he asked  
"Not really." I said  
"Before my parents died, we use to travel a lot, so I'm used to being away from home. I love having a place to call home, a place to come to and call my own and be able to dance freely in and be in my underwear and to decorate, but I also love traveling." I said  
Matthew just smiled and said, "True freedom is not wearing any pants."  
"Amen!" I said  
we just giggled and then I said, "You know, it's not fair that I'm spilling out my heart here and you're just listening."  
"Would you rather I not listen?" he said  
"No, I'd rather you cooperate with me…I can't elaborate if you say nothing about yourself." I said  
"Fair enough, what do you wish to know?" he said  
I thought about it for a while and then said, "Why would someone like you be bullied?"  
Matthew seemed to recall the incident that happened earlier that night when those idiot frat boys shouted obscene things at me and he said, "Look at me."  
"I'm looking at you." I said  
"You don't get it, look at me well." He said  
"Is this how you flirt?" I asked jokingly  
"No, this is why people made fun of me." He said waving his hands up and down referring to his body.  
"There's nothing wrong with your body." I said a little too assertive  
"…I mean, you seem healthy and…" I said blushing hard  
"I was that weird rail thin lanky kid for most of my life." He said  
"I was always the tallest, and looked and walked like a noodle. I was the clumsy kid who always fell in P.E., the one that always got hit in the face with basketballs, the one that couldn't run a mile in under 7 minutes like all the boys did, I was just this weird skinny kid who likes to read books." He said  
"Ok, first of all, PE stands for Public Embarrassment, so don't feel ashamed about it, secondly, what's wrong with being tall, and reading is for cool people, so they can all suck a –"  
"You're just too cool." He said  
"You're different." He added  
Matthew seemed to be getting lost in the memories of what he just said, and as he pulled his knees to his chest, I could have sworn I detected some insecurity and he said,  
"I'm not ripped or muscular, I'm not tan or bronzy looking, and I'm not-  
I interrupted him and said, "I happen to like you just the way you are."  
Matthew looked into my eyes with astonishment and I continued,  
"I've seen your chest already and you're pretty toned to me, and I like that. I like that you're not super toned or muscular, I like that you're pale and lanky and you know what, I think you're adorable." I said  
Matthew looked at me with endearment and I said, "Have you seen me?"  
Matthew's eyes looked at me whole and I said, "I'm freaking Caspar over here! I have to literally be out in the sun for 24 hours for a month to get some kind of pigment in my skin, I'm a giant for a woman, I'm super clumsy and I'm constantly falling or knocking things over, and I'm not all lean and fit and into yoga like every woman seems to be nowadays. I like to read books. Heck, I'd rather read one than go to a party…most of the time…and despite all the crap I've been given for my appearance, I like myself. I like that I'm not getting a spray tan, I like that I'm tall, I like that my body isn't hard and that I can eat 6 slices of pizza without crying or planning to limit my food intake, and you should too."  
I must have really tapped into Matthew's soul because I saw his watery eyes and then he hugged me lay his chin and my shoulder as he buried his face next to mine and said, "You are beautiful, you are warm souled, and can we just be best friends already?"  
I felt my eyes grow watery and my cheeks burn bright, and saw that Matthew wore the same expression. I put my head down and then reached for his hand and said,  
"I'm pretty sure I heard someone verify our friendship last night."  
Matthew titled his head up and said, "Is that so?"  
"Well, someone did say something about March 10th marking our friendship anniversary."  
"I thought you were asleep." He said  
"Not entirely." I said  
Matthew just stared at me and Instead of feeling uncomfortable, I just stared back.  
While he continued to stare at me I looked back to check the clock and it read 6:30 AM  
"Whoa, its morning already." I said  
"It's too early to call that morning." He said  
"Well, I'll let you sleep." I said as I got out of bed  
Matthew was about to spring out of bed but I pushed him back down and said,  
"You need rest."  
"Where are you going?" he asked curiously  
"I need to go back to my room and wake Brandon up." I said  
"Doesn't he have an alarm clock?" said Matt  
"Brandon could sleep through an earthquake and the sound of gun shots in his room." I said  
with that Matt slumped back into bed and said, "So will you come back?"  
I noticed that Matt looked slightly upset and so I sat back down and he instantly crawled to my side and slumped his head and half of his body weight onto me, it's like I had turned into his pillow.  
"Matt, don't you have friends to visit?" I said  
"No, they're all somewhere else." He said somberly  
"What about your parents?" I said  
"They're on a trip with my younger brother to visit my sister in New York." He said even more sad  
to try to perk him up I asked him about his family.  
"I knew you weren't an only child." I said  
"How so?"  
"You're weird." I said  
"Oh, so everyone that is weird automatically has siblings?" he said  
"No, you're very weird, and you like to have company and you love making people around you feel important and part of whatever is happening…you must be the middle child." I said  
"You really need to tell me how you do this." He said amazed  
"You asked me WHY I studied in Scotland but not what I studied." I said  
at that he smiled and said, "Is it too late to ask?" "Too soon?"  
I looked back at the clock and said, "That's another long story."  
Matthew just smiled and I said, "How about you lie back down on your bed, I put the sheet over you, and go wake Brandon up?"  
"Will you give me a goodnight kiss?" he said  
"If that makes you stay put to rest, than yes." I said  
Matthew obediently lied back down. I moved over to his side of the bed to spread the sheet all over him, and leaned to kiss his forehead.  
A tiny smile crept up and his cheeks turned pink.  
"I probably won't be back until midnight, but I have a feeling you'll be up." I said  
"Karen?" he softly said without opening his eyes  
"Yes?" I said  
"How smart are you?" he asked  
"I have a good memory, why do you ask?" I said  
"702-418-0666" he said  
as he finished the last digit It hit me that he had just given me his cellphone number. I repeated it once in my head and then said it out loud,  
"702-my birth month and birthdate, 0 and the number of the beast."  
Mathew opened his eyes and said, "You were born on April 18?"  
"Yes, now go back to sleep." I said  
Matthew closed his eyes and said, "I send great photos."  
I laughed and said, "No nudes please."  
"Don't even dream about it." He laughed back  
"Bye Matt." I said  
"Bye darling." He whispered  
I made my way out his room and walked a few more steps to my room A1. I realized I had forgotten my key card but thankfully the maintenance lady in the hallway noticed and kindly opened the door for me.  
I thanked her and stepped into my room.  
To my surprise Brandon was already up and dressed, ready to go.  
A little bit of pride hit me knowing that Brandon managed to wake up by himself and dress nicely. I felt like a proud sister.  
"You clean up nicely." I said  
"Morning to you too." He happily said  
"I guess I'm the one running late now, aren't I?" I said  
"No, you have less than an hour to get ready." He said  
"Well, I'm going to go shower then." I said  
I grabbed my suitcase and dragged it into the bathroom.  
"Brandon?" I said  
"Karen?" he mocked  
"You have a million questions for me, don't you?" I said  
"You bet!" he said  
"Alright then let me shower in peace and I'll tell you EVERYTHING on our way." I said  
"Deal." He said  
I shut the door and giggled. I walked across the cold bathroom tile and into the shower. I cranked the water knob to warm and got in. As I shampooed, I wondered what the hell was going through Brandon's mind. I giggled some more and then lathered and conditioned my hair.  
Thinking I had taken a long shower I quickly dried and put lotion on. From there I reached into my suitcase and yelled, "Brandon, do I need to look fabulously chic and put together?"  
"No, jeans are fine." He hollered back  
"Jeans it is" I whispered  
I reached into the bag for my black skinny jeans. I put them back down and instead grabbed my other pair of skinny jeans that had frayed slits where my knees hit and a bit more in the upper thigh region. I then grabbed a simple lose white tank top that said, "I love you to the moon and back." Knowing that the weather had been unpredictable, I grabbed my red plaid shirt and tied it around my waist. I searched for socks and of course found two that didn't match. That made me happy, and then I grabbed my favorite black chucks and there, I was finished. I closed my suit case and then went to the vanity and sprits on my favorite perfume. I brushed my hair and put a bit of mouse to tousle it and then sorted through my makeup bag. I concealed my dark circles, lightly powdered my face, very softly filled in my brows with this new tinted brow gel that I loved. I was feeling a bit ballsy so I grabbed my favorite brown eyeliner and lightly smudged it on my top lash line. I then grabbed my other bronzy eyeliner and very subtly smudged it on my lower lash line. I coated my eyes with mascara and tinted my lips cherry red with those new lip marker thingies. I grabbed my Nivea lip balm, spread a little on and put it back in my jean's pockets. When I exited the rest room and made it to the bed where Brandon was watching Top Chef he looked at me and said, "You could wear a trash bag and still look fabulous."  
"Really?" I said  
"Yes, you're only wearing jeans and a shirt and I bet you're going to turn more heads than the anchor ladies who will be dressed to the nines." He said  
"I thought you said jeans were ok." I said feeling uneasy  
"They are. We're only running to a few interviews and that's about it." He said  
"We're going to lunch, but that's until later, we'll come back to change." He said  
"Fair enough." I said  
"You ready?" he asked  
"Yeah!" I said  
Brandon got up and turned the TV off, he opened the door and I grabbed my long black Dolce and Gabbana duffle styled bag and off he went. 


End file.
